The Late Shift Saint

Deacon Frank (name changed to protect your Pastor) came to the meeting with a frown on his face and an agenda all his own.

"Pastor, have you seen Derek(Name Changed to protect Derek)? He has a mohawk, wears a dirty t-shirt, and sits right up front. He falls asleep every single Sunday. It's disrespectful. What are you going to do about it?"

The pastor didn't answer right away. He just nodded, said he'd look into it, and went home discouraged.

That week, he called Derek and asked if he'd want to grab breakfast sometime.

They met Saturday morning at a little diner. The pastor had decided beforehand: he wasn't going to mention the mohawk, and he wasn't going to mention the sleeping. None of it was his business and he didn’t care what people wore to church. 

So they talked. About nothing important at first — the weather and stuff like that. Slowly, the conversation loosened. The pastor asked what a normal week looked like for him.

"Honestly? I work the overnight shift at the factory. I get off early in the morning, but I want to go to church, so I stay up until church starts, then get in bed after." He paused. "I know I fall asleep during church a lot. I'm sorry about that."

The pastor smiled. He thought of the verse in Psalms that says it is God who gives sleep to His people.

"Derek, if you need the sleep, I'm glad you're getting it. I can't think of a better place to fall asleep than gathered with the saints, sitting under the preaching of God's Word.

"I would rather you sleep at church than not see you at all."

As I remember this story from my dad, I ponder what it would take to create a gathering so attractive to people that they would “try” to delay sleep to gather with the saints.